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(서울=NSP통신) eun tae Kang Journal = Vivid records of modern history of Korea’s conscientious objectors, which started in 1939 as a refusal to worship Japanese emperor or perform any kind of military service, will be opened to the public.

On coming September 3rd, at 4pm, in outdoor stage, Seodaemun Prison History Hall will open an exhibit, sponsored by the Korea Branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses, to present historical records of injustices inflicted on the conscientious objectors in Korea, which lasted for 80 years since the Lighthouse (Deungdaesa) Incident in 1939 to recent days.

The Lighthouse (Deungdaesa) Incident in 1939, which was the refusal to worship Japanese emperor or perform military service, was the first historical case of conscientious objection in Korean peninsula, in case of which Japanese police arrested and imprisoned all of the ‘Deungdaesa members’, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called, who refused to worship Japanese emperor or perform any kind of military service during Japanese occupation period, on the basis of their religious beliefs.

Total number of 66 ‘Deungdaesa members’, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called, had been unjustly arrested by Japanese police since June 29th in 1939, and 6 of them died in prison. The average term of imprisonment of the ‘Deungdaesa members’ was 4.5 years.

Meanwhile, professors in the related fields, lawyers, and a fourth-generation conscientious objector as well as both local and foreign society-culture reporters were invited for this special exhibit to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Lighthouse (Deungdaesa) Incident. 6000-page trial documents, which were kept by the National History Compilation Committee, will be introduced to the public, shedding light on the whole process of the Lighthouse (Deungdaesa) Incident from beginning to end.

NSP News Agency eun tae Kang Journalist keepwatch@nspna.com
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